CCB President Denies Crisis. "This Season Meets Demands"

The Belém Cultural Center (CCB) season until July 2026 was presented today, in Lisbon, at a press conference attended by the president, the current sole member of the board of directors, Madalena Reis, and programmers from the various artistic areas of that cultural facility.

"This CCB season responds to the demands of the house itself and its audiences: accessibility, a very wide variety of artistic expressions, the major social issues of the moment," said Vassallo e Silva at the end of the press conference, questioned by the Lusa news agency, giving as an example the premiere of the opera 'Adilson', by Dino Santiago, which marks the start of the season, on Friday.

The show, with text by Rui Catalão - focusing on social injustice, discrimination, human fragility and hope - is a commission and original production of BoCA - Bienal de Artes Contemporâneas, in co-production with CCB, and represents the artist's first foray into opera.

"The multiplicity of offerings to multiple audiences, and this physical capacity - we have one of the largest auditoriums in the country - from opera to theater, singing, jazz, and always with a concern for the civic vision that we seek," highlighted Nuno Vassallo e Silva, president appointed by the former Minister of Culture, Dalila Rodrigues, at the end of 2024, after having dismissed cultural manager Francisca Carneiro Fernandes from her post.

The premiere of Marco Martins' play, 'Um Inimigo do Povo', inspired by the events of Rua do Benformoso, the theater of O Bando and Christiane Jatahy, the opera 'Tannhäuser', by Wagner, are other highlights in the season that will run from September 2025 to July 2026.

The new season reveals particular attention to theater and classical music, with performances by Portuguese and foreign orchestras, such as Orquestra XXI, a project by maestro Dinis Sousa, and the Huelgas Ensemble, by Paul van Nevel, musicians such as Pedro Burmester and François-Frédéric Guy, and the premiere of new opera productions, from Puccini to Dino D'Santiago.

"Bringing Mozart or Chopin also has an important role in fostering our critical thinking and ability to analyze this turbulent world we find ourselves in. The CCB is a bit like a lighthouse, seeking, like great cultural institutions, a direction for our times," the CCB president told Lusa.

When asked about the dismissal of the artistic director for the performing arts, Aida Tavares, last July, Nuno Vassallo e Silva declined to comment, assuring that "there was no rupture".

"The institution remains enthusiastic, and we are monitoring the process [of recruiting a new collaborator through an international competition]. The pre-selection is carried out by a highly prestigious external jury, chaired by Professor António Pinto Ribeiro, to select the best candidate, always with a vision of continuity and renewal," said the president of the CCB, commenting that "every collaborator at the institution brings their stamp" to the cultural facility they join.

For Vassallo e Silva, "the fundamental thing is to continue, from an offering point of view, always growing, and above all to seek transparency and openness to all audiences."

"There's been a complete change in the design from when the CCB was created [in 1993], and especially in recent years. But right now, for example, for the visual arts, we're developing partnerships with other similar institutions. When the CCB opened, it was a kind of island, but today there's a different reality - the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology, the Julião Sarmento Pavilion, the Municipal Galleries, the Armando Martins Museum of Contemporary Art. All of this makes us much richer and, at the same time, requires monitoring and dialogue."

At the press conference, the administration was questioned about the departure, in April, of member Delfim Sardo, responsible for programming since 2020, but "there is still no news" from the department.

At the same time, the term of office of member Margarida Reis ended, and she told journalists that she had already expressed her willingness to continue in the role.

The rest of the CCB team was present at the press conference, namely Cláudia Belchior, in the general executive coordination, who presented the general features of the performing arts season, and also Fernando Luís Sampaio and Cesário Costa, in the programming, while Madalena Wallenstein continues to direct the Fábrica das Artes for children and young people.

Regarding the open call for proposals launched to the public in March to obtain suggestions on the operation of the CCB, the board of directors said it received around 300 responses, "many of them interesting" that will be released later.

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